Description:
Daily News articles of interest about Geology and the Geological Sciences.
Contents:
Fossil feathers reveal their hues
The complex coloured plumage of extinct birds which once soared over the heads of dinosaurs could soon be revealed. Scientists have shown they are able to interpret the colour patterns seen in 100 million-year-old fossil feathers.(BBC)
Pac-Man supercontinent ate itself to pieces
The reason you are sitting where you are right now may be because Pangaea, the most recent supercontinent to gather together all the world's landmasses together, ate itself nearly 300 million years ago.(NewScientist)
Geologists study China earthquake for glimpse into future
The May 12 earthquake that rocked Sichuan Province in China was the first there in recorded history and unexpected in its magnitude. Now a team of geoscientists is looking at the potential for future earthquakes due to earthquake-induced changes in stress.(PhysOrg)
Major quake hits region of Okhotsk Sea
A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 hit the region of the Sea of Okhotsk early Saturday, the US Geological Survey said, but no casualties were reported.(AFP)
Earth's Core, Magnetic Field Changing Fast, Study Says
Rapid changes in the churning movement of Earth's liquid outer core are weakening the magnetic field in some regions of the planet's surface. The changes may suggest the possibility of an upcoming reversal of the geomagnetic field.(NationalGeographic)
Former officials of Geological Survey, NOAA propose merger of earth science agencies
From climate change to volcanoes and earthquakes, the world's growing challenges have leaders in earth science proposing a merger of agencies that study the planet. Creation of a new Earth Systems Science Agency is urged in this week's edition of the journal Science, by merging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey.(AP)
Geologists push back date basins formed, supporting frozen Earth theory
University of Florida geologists say they have found strong evidence that a half-dozen major basins in India were formed a billion or more years ago, making them at least 500 million years older than commonly thought. The findings appear to remove one of the major obstacles to the Snowball Earth theory that a frozen Earth was once entirely covered in snow and ice.(UOF)
Greenland ice sheet slams the brakes on
Much noise has been made about how water lubricates the base of Greenland's ice sheet, accelerating its slide into the oceans. In a rare "good news" announcement, climatologists now say the ice may not be in such a hurry to throw itself into the water after all. Mother Nature, it seems, has given it brakes.(NewScientist)
Japan beefs up undersea quake monitoring system
The system will be placed 1,000 to 2,000 metres (3,280-6,562 feet) beneath the ocean surface to gather data on seismic activity that will be transmitted by fiber-optic submarine cable to an above-ground observation centre.(AFP)
Insulating continents cause tectonic cycles to flip
Thanks to a load of small balls in a tank of gloop, we are a little closer to understanding why continents split up and get back together again.(NewScientist)
Exploding Asteroid Theory Strengthened By New Evidence Located In Ohio, Indiana
Geological evidence found in Ohio and Indiana in recent weeks is strengthening the case to attribute what happened 12,900 years ago in North America -- when the end of the last Ice Age unexpectedly turned into a phase of extinction for animals and humans – to a cataclysmic comet or asteroid explosion over top of Canada.(ScienceDaily)
Springy sediments may amplify tsunamis
THE devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 may have been made worse by springy sediment on the seabed.(NewScientist)
Germany to start storing carbon dioxide underground
Germany is due to inaugurate Europe's first underground carbon dioxide storage site at Ketzin, outside Berlin, as part of a European project dubbed CO2SINK which aims to test whether capturing and storing carbon dioxide in subterranean rock is a viable way of fighting global warming.(AFP)
China Earthquake Was Rare Type
The major earthquake that devastated China last month was something of a seismological oddity, seismologists report in a new analysis. The faults that caused the temblor rarely rumble.(LiveScience)
Harness volcano power, energy experts say
Volcanoes and hot springs could supply up to 25 per cent of America's power needs, energy experts have said. As fuel prices soar, Alaskan officials announced the exploration of the state's volcanoes, saying they could be exploited to provide energy for thousands of homes.(Telegraph)
Volcanic eruptions reshape Arctic ocean floor: study
Recent massive volcanoes have risen from the ocean floor deep under the Arctic ice cap, spewing plumes of fragmented magma into the sea.(AFP)
Natural 'Invisible' Gold Found In Nanoparticles
Nanoparticles of gold too small to be seen with the naked eye have been created in laboratories, but up until now, have never been seen in nature.(ScienceDaily)
Early Earth Marred by Acid Rain
The climate of early Earth was no day at the beach, with stinging acid rains and an intensely warm surface, a new study suggests. These harsh conditions could explain why geologists today have found no rocks more than 4 billion years old: They were all weathered away.(LiveScience)
July 2008 GEOLOGY and GSA Today media highlights
GEOLOGY topics span the globe and beyond, covering southern Africa's diamond kimberlites, sandstones and shales of Scotland, a "Greenhouse World" in the Wyoming badlands, glacial erosion in East Greenland, oxidation of methane in southern Namibia, preservation of woolly rhinoceroses in Ukraine, gold nanoparticles in Australia, and the possibility of a water-rich environment in Mars' past. GSA TODAY contains the first authoritative geological and geophysical treatment of the 12 May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan Province, China.(EurekAlert)
The mystery of mass extinctions is no longer murky
Ebb and flow of the sea is the primary cause of the world's mass extinctions over the past 500 million years.(EurekAlert)
Scientists to mimic earth's spinning core
A team of scientists in the United States are hoping to create a miniature version of the earth's core and in the process discover why its effect is waning. Professor Dan Lathrop and his team from the non-linear dynamics laboratory at the University of Maryland have constructed a 26-ton steel sphere that will be filled with boiling metal and spun.(ABC.net.au)
Samoa Found To Be In Path Of Geological Hotspots, Adding Fuel To Debate Over Origins Of Volcanic Chains
A new study that determines Samoa is indeed on the path of a geologic “hotspot” trail is adding fuel to a vigorous scientific debate over the origins of volcano chains – especially in the Pacific Ocean.(ScienceDaily)
Oil in the Great Plains
Move over Texas and Alaska — Montana and North Dakota may be the country’s newest oil hotspots. Two new large-scale assessments have found that a 360-million-year-old rock layer located three kilometers below the rolling plains of eastern Montana and western North Dakota — called the Bakken Formation — holds between 3 billion and 4 billion barrels of recoverable oil. (Geotimes)
Time to build Yucca
After 30 years and $9 billion worth of federal research, Yucca Mountain is one of the most intensely studied pieces of real estate in the world. But the Nevada landmark — the proposed site of a national geological repository for high-level nuclear waste — remains shrouded in controversy.(Geotimes)
Crews search for missing in Japan's 7.2 quake
The quake — followed by more than 150 aftershocks — buckled roads, including one highway that was severed when a stretch of land collapsed, turning it into a sudden drop-off. Trains also were halted throughout most of the region while workers checked the safety of the tracks.(AP)
Ancient mineral shows early Earth climate tough on continents
In a new paper published online this week in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, a team of scientists led by UW-Madison geologists Takayuki Ushikubo, Valley and Noriko Kita show that rocky continents and liquid water existed at least 4.3 billion years ago and were subjected to heavy weathering by an acrid climate.(EurekAlert)
Seismologist: China quake had no warning signs
Last month's massive earthquake in central China likely could not have been predicted, a leading American seismologist says.(AP)
Chile volcano eruption regains strength
The six-week eruption of a volcano in southern Chile has regained strength with bursts of thick gas, seismic rumblings and the emergence of two new craters.(AP)
Aussie dinosaur bone takes bite out of theory of continental drift
A dinosaur bone discovered in Australia has defied prevailing wisdom about how the world's continents separated from a super-continent millions of years ago.(AFP)
Drilling caused Indonesian mud volcano
Drilling of a gas exploration well, and not an earthquake, set off a volcano that has been spewing boiling mud for two years and has displaced more than 50,000 people on the Indonesian island of Java.(Reuters)
Earthquake swarm picks up again in northern Nevada
A months-long swarm of earthquakes picked up again Sunday as a string of minor temblors rattled Reno, causing downtown high-rises to sway and knocking items off walls and shelves.(AP)
Strong Earthquake Hits Greece, Killing Two and Injuring Dozens
The quake struck near the port city of Patras, about 120 miles west of Athens in the northwestern Peloponnese, the Athens Geodynamic Institute said. It said the epicenter was close to the surface.(AP)
Indonesia raises alert of volcano as it spews lava
Indonesia has raised the alert level for a volcano on Sulawesi island to the highest after it began spewing hot lava and clouds of smoke.(Reuters)
Plan for quake 'warning system'
Nasa scientists have said they could be on the verge of a breakthrough in their efforts to forecast earthquakes. Researchers say they have found a close link between electrical disturbances on the edge of our atmosphere and impending quakes on the ground below. (BBC)
New study sheds light on mysterious "supershear" quakes
A French-Turkish team of seismologists on Thursday said they had found evidence about the impacts of a rare but extremely violent earthquake called a supershear. (AFP)
Mountains could have growth spurts: researchers
The Andes Mountains may have growth spurts, doubling their height in as little as 2 million to 4 million years, U.S. researchers have reported. Their findings suggest that current theories about plate tectonics -- the process that creates and moves continents, giving rise to mountain ranges -- may need updating.(Reuters)
Scientists Get Closer to Center of the Earth
Fiery journeys to the center of the Earth occur only in the sci-fi realm, but now scientists have laid out a way to pinpoint our planet’s center of mass, providing a more accurate map of that core destination.(LiveScience)
Tidal 'icequakes' are shaking Antarctica
Slow and cold – but very powerful. That's the quake that shakes the West Antarctic ice shelf twice a day. The massive tremors, which according to some measurements are the equivalent of magnitude-7 earthquakes, are caused by the movement of ice over rough patches of rock.(NewScientist)
New geomorphological index created for studying the active tectonics of mountains
Active tectonics comprise the most up-to-date deformation processes that affect the Earth's crust, resulting in earthquakes or recent deformations in the planet’s faults and folds. This phenomena is analysed in geology research carried out before commencing engineering works(EurekAlert)
What Makes an Old Geyser Faithful?
New research suggests that how often Old Faithful and other Yellowstone geysers erupt may depend on annual rainfall patterns.(USGS)
Volcano erupts in Galapagos Islands
A volcano on the largest of the Galapagos Islands has begun erupting and authorities are evaluating possible dangers to the island's famed plant and animal life.(AP)
Australians find a mother of a fossil
The world's oldest mother and her baby have been found fossilised in north-western Australia, pushing the known record of live birth back by about 200 million years.(ABC.net.au)
Big Bangs: 'Stirring' Secrets Of Deadly Supervolcanoes Uncovered
Researchers from McGill University and the University of British Columbia (UBC) have simulated in the lab the process that can turn ordinary volcanic eruptions into so-called “supervolcanoes,” with potentially devastating worldwide impact.(ScienceDaily)
Iceland Rocked by 6.1-Magnitude Earthquake
A powerful earthquake shook Iceland on Thursday, rocking buildings in the capital, touching off landslides and forcing residents in outlying towns to evacuate.(AP)
Study finds Indonesia 'mud volcano' collapsing
An Indonesian "mud volcano" that has oozed sludge for two years is collapsing under its own weight, worsening an environmental disaster that has displaced thousands.(AFP)
To predict quakes, listen to the animals, China survivors say
"The animals were trying to tell us something. If only we knew that, not so many people would have died," said Fu Wenran, a retired farmer whose wife was among the estimated 240,000 who perished in Tangshan's quake on July 28, 1976.(AFP)
Quakes can be triggered from other side of globe: study
A team of geologists in the United States found that 12 out of 15 major quakes -- registering a magnitude of 7.0 or higher -- since 1990 generated surface waves that set off smaller seismic events in fault systems on distant continents.(AFP)
China Aftershock: 70,000 Houses Collapse
Measured at a magnitude of 6.4, this aftershock was the strongest of a series of tremors that have hit China since the May 11 quake.(SKY)
Strong Earthquake Jolts Colombia
A moderate earthquake shook the Colombian capital Saturday afternoon, killing at least three people, knocking over furniture in buildings and sending residents running into the streets.(AP)
US scientists predict impact of a big quake on California
If the much-feared "Big One" struck California, the massive earthquake would leave 1,800 dead, 50,000 wounded and 200 billion dollars in damage.(AFP)
First dinosaur tracks found in Arabian Peninsula
Scientists have discovered the tracks of a herd of 11 long-necked sauropods walking along a coastal mudflat in what is now the Republic of Yemen, the first discovery of dinosaur footprints on the Arabian peninsula.(Reuters)
Earthquake in China struck in 2 stages
The fault line that caused this week's devastating earthquake in China probably buckled in two stages, and the hardness of the terrain contributed to the wide reach of the damage.(AP)
New rumbling from Chilean volcano worries experts
Chile's Chaiten volcano groaned, rumbled and shuddered on Thursday, raising new concerns among authorities, as lightning bolts pierced the huge clouds of hot ash hovering ominously above its crater.(Reuters)
New Zealand volcano more unsettled: scientists
Volcanic activity at New Zealand's Mount Ruapehu is increasing and an eruption could occur at any time. The volcano in central North Island, famed as a location in the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy, last erupted on September 25 2007, spitting 2 meter (6 feet) boulders distances of up to 2 km (1.5 miles).(Reuters)
Thousands Dead After Magnitude 7.8 Earthquake Rocks Central China
The earthquake sent thousands of people rushing out of buildings and into the streets hundreds of miles away in Beijing and Shanghai. The temblor was felt as far away as Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand.(AP)
Eruptions subside at Sicily's Mount Etna
The eruptions that have shaken the Mount Etna volcano on the southern Italian island of Sicily have subsided, experts said Sunday at the Palermo Geophysics and Volcanology Institute. (AFP)
Vog — volcanic smog — kills plants, casts a haze over Hawaii
Big Island crops are shriveling as sulfur dioxide from Kilauea wafts over them and envelops them in "vog," or volcanic smog. People are wheezing, and schoolchildren are being kept indoors during recess.(AP)
Rocks Under The Northern Ocean Are Found To Resemble Ones Far South
Scientists probing volcanic rocks from deep under the frozen surface of the Arctic Ocean have discovered a special geochemical signature until now found only in the southern hemisphere. The rocks were dredged from the remote Gakkel Ridge, which lies under 3,000 to 5,000 meters of water; it is Earth's most northerly undersea spreading ridge.(ScienceDaily)
Geochemists Challenge Key Theory Regarding Earth's Formation
Working with colleagues from NASA, a Florida State University researcher has published a paper that calls into question three decades of conventional wisdom regarding some of the physical processes that helped shape the Earth as we know it today.(ScienceDaily)
Blobs Inside Earth Like Peanut Butter
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